Our Partners

At Zaliwa, we showcase handcrafted products made by skilled Kenyan artisans who use traditional techniques to upcycle waste materials. Our partnerships are built on fair trade, transparency, and respect, ensuring artisans set their own prices and work in safe environments. Each product we offer reflects both heritage craftsmanship and a commitment to the circular economy.

Africa Collect Textiles 

Transforming textile waste into opportunity.

Every year, millions of tonnes of textiles are discarded across Africa. With few systems to manage this waste, most ends up in landfills or is burned. Africa Collect Textiles is changing that. 

They collect, sort, and transform used textiles. They have created a collection network that engages citizens, marketplaces and institutions. Every collected item is sorted by hand. Some are reused through their charity and re-distribution programmes, others are upcycled into new products that celebrate Kenyan craft, or downcycled into useful materials.

By keeping clothes and footwear out of landfills, they protect the environment, create jobs, drive innovation, while generating funds for charity. They also drive campaigns to raise awareness about Africa’s textile waste problem and show how circular systems can be a force of good. 

We support the environment and create jobs. The future of fashion is circular, and Africa plays a vital role. Together, we’re closing the loop. 

Ocean Sole 

Turning ocean waste into art.

Ocean Sole started with a simple but powerful idea when the founder saw children using discarded flip-flops to make toys. Today, this social enterprise recycles over one million flip-flops every year, turning them into hand-carved sculptures and functional products. Through their work they:
- Provide employment for 1,000+ Kenyans
- Recycle over one tonne of Styrofoam monthly
- Contribute 10-15% of revenue to beach cleanups & education

People are the heart of our organisation. We support equality and are passionate about community impact. We provide meals, healthcare, fair wages, career advancement and educational opportunities, for not only our employees, but their families as well.

Sunshot Factory 

Kenya's first recycled plastic sunglasses.

Founded in 2024 by optician-turned-entrepreneur Arifa, Sunshot Factory was born from a determination to tackle plastic waste through innovation. After countless prototypes and setbacks, she succeeded in crafting durable, stylish sunglasses from recycled plastic. 

Achieving our breakthrough was like our moonshot - so the name 'Sunshot' felt right. Our journey started in a garage, but we’re building a factory of the future.

The Flip Flopi 

From plastic waste to artisanal homeware.

In 2015, Ben Morison was struck by the sheer amount of plastic waste littering Kenya’s coastline. Inspired by the Swahili tradition of dhow building, he teamed up with master boatbuilder Ali Skanda and plastic pollution activist Dipesh Pabari to build the world’s first plastic dhow, crafted from 10 tonnes of collected waste and clad in 30,000 flip-flops.

The Flipflopi movement has since evolved into The Flipflopi Designs, where the same innovative recycling techniques are now used to create high-quality, Swahili-inspired furniture and homeware.

Our mission is to support our local community in Lamu. Every purchase directly funds our fight against plastic pollution.

The Collective Kibera

From objects to opportunity.

Despite crushing poverty, Kibera - East Africa’s largest slum area - has a thriving community of artists, dancers, craftsmen, and thousands of other talented residents. The Collective is one such example. Under its founder Jack's creative direction, they create beautiful pieces of modern jewellery by upcycling materials.

This collection of jewellery is all created from cast-off objects. Random brass pieces, found on the streets of Nairobi. Items that would otherwise sit in landfills for thousands of years. Our amazing artisan partners take this discarded material and turn it into sophisticated, sustainable jewellery.

We are not seeking a handout. We want business partners, access to international markets, and consumers who care about what they purchase.

Oye Africa

Aligning timeless techniques with modern design. 

Oye means good in the Samburu dialect of Northern Kenya and the team behind this collection hopes to exemplify this trait through the production of environmentally conscious and high-quality leather products that pay homage to their African roots. Oye uses age-old African techniques like hand-beading and sandal making, whilst adapting ideas from emerging design trends.

The brand has a strong impact on its local community by mostly employing women and youth in Kibera and women’s groups in rural communities in the North of Kenya. By employing talented but underserved artisans, Oye ensures guaranteed incomes for youth, and women in these communities. 

In addition, Oye uses sustainable production methods to reduce waste, for example its use of upcycled denim fabric in their sandals. They also seek to reduce leather waste by only using leather off-cuts in their products. 

Kenya faces huge challenges with discarded clothing swamping landfills here. But some of that material doesn’t need to be there. Denim for example, it’s a strong material. It doesn’t disintegrate. So I wanted to look at that. And make sure Oye was part of the solution.